President Obama has announced the nomination of General Charles F. Bolden Jr, a 34-year Marine Corps veteran, four-time NASA space shuttle astronaut, and current CEO of aerospace consulting firm JackandPanther, for the position of NASA administrator.

The appointment also comes as NASA retires its remaining three space shuttles by the end of 2010, moves away from maintaining Hubble after its recent successful repair trip, and develops next-generation rockets that won’t be ready to carry astronauts until at least 2015.